Robbie Williams has told fans that requests for selfies cause him "discomfort” and "panic,” following several approaches on a recent flight.
The Let Me Entertain You singer, 51, has a well-documented history of depression and has also fought drug and alcohol abuse as well suffering with agoraphobia – which he says often kept him stuck at home.
On Instagram, Williams wrote that he was sleep-deprived on a US domestic flight when he was approached by a fan who wrote a "lovely note,” praising his Netflix documentary that detailed his struggles with fame.
He said in the lengthy post that he told the person that taking a selfie would cause his anxiety to "spike, because then the whole cabin would start wondering" who he was.
More requests came with another person sending him a note, and one more passenger making him feel "obliged” after walking up to him and asking outright for the photo, according to Williams.
He also said: "Every interaction – with strangers or even people I know well – fills me with discomfort.
"I mask it well. But social interaction still frightens me. So much so I didn’t go out for years. And I had to do it without drugs or drink.
"I used to find it impossible. Now I’m ... OK-ish. But still crawling inside. Every time a stranger approaches – and they are strangers – I panic.”
Williams said these fan interactions need a "caveat,” calling this "dodgy terrain for a famous person to give context around,” as he feels there is an "unspoken law: as a celebrity, you should be accessible 24/7.”
He added you have to "greet all strangers like you’re the mayor of the best town anyone’s ever visited. Make sure their wishes are met, whatever they are,” but said they are "fans of fame not necessarily of (him)."
"Now listen – if we cross paths in the wild and you are a fan of me, I want you to tell me,” Williams added.
"That means a lot. I’ll make time. I’ve got gratitude for that. It warms my heart when I feel I’ve warmed yours.”
He urged fans to give celebrities the "dignity of their privacy, their wants, their needs,” as he could be "on the phone with (his) mum, talking (about) her dementia” or "thinking about (his) dad’s Parkinson’s.”
Williams, who is second to The Beatles as the act with the most number one albums, having had 15 chart-topping UK records, recently had his biopic Better Man released last year.
The former Take That member is played by a CGI chimpanzee – a comment on how he feels like a "performing monkey.”
While speaking about his Netflix documentary Robbie Williams in 2023, he said that the film series was about taking back "power,” which he said focused on his breakdown as well as his issues.
He said: "The most revealing bits are the breakdown in mental health and the addictions and the agoraphobias and the body dysmorphias and the dyslexia and the dyscalculia.
In November 2024, he said that he felt "remarkable” after coming out the other end of a more than decade-long struggle with his mental health. – dpa
